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Whenever I tell people who've been there that I used to live in Santa Barbara, the idyllic ocean-side city just 90 miles north of Los Angeles, they almost invariably ask: "Why did you ever leave?"

Truth is, when Florida's humidity or hurricanes become particularly oppressive, it's a question I ask myself. Real estate prices aside-a $2 million home in Santa Barbara can be a fixer-upper-there's good reason why this city of 92,000, neatly snuggled between the Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific, regularly sits at the top of those "Best Places to Live" lists. It's charming as hell and, with its wild proliferation of red tiled roofs, olive trees on every hillside and pervasive Mediterranean demeanor, fully deserving of its self-proclaimed moniker, "America's Riviera."

There's great scenery (in addition to the mountains and the ocean, the Channel Islands offer a splendid presence just offshore), great food (it's no mere coincidence that Julia Child lived here), great wine (Sideways barely scratched the surface), great weather (the unique east-west configuration of the Santa Barbara coastline keeps the temperature mellow year-round) and great people-watching (I used to attend PTA meetings with Jeff Bridges; see Kathy Ireland, Rob Lowe and Julia Louise-Dreyfus at the local YMCA; and once stood in line at Blockbuster with Dennis Miller, both of us commenting on our wild social lives that led to renting videos on a Saturday night.)

Yes, star power notwithstanding, there is lots to love about Santa Barbara. Just getting there on a 30-minute commuter flight from L.A. is about as dreamy an introduction to a town as one could hope to experience. The flight skirts the coastline, past Malibu and Ventura, then courses past the tiny Anacapa Island (one of the eight Channel Islands) before touching down at what is probably the cutest little airport in the United States, built in the hacienda-style of Old Santa Barbara, complete with Mexican tile floors.

On my most recent visit in November, the first stop was at La Super-Rica Taqueria, the justly famous Mexican joint on Milpas Street that Julia Child once proclaimed her all-time favorite place to eat. It's just a glorified green-and-white hut with a tiny sign to identify it.

"People read about us and they come here expecting a fancy Mexican restaurant with mariachi bands and all that stuff," says owner Isidoro Gonzalez. "That's not us. We serve tacos al carbon, what is considered humble street food in Mexico."

The meats are grilled to order, the tortillas handmade while you watch. I ordered my favorite, the Super-Rica Especial, with charred pork strips and roasted poblano peppers, then helped myself to one of the homemade salsas.

I would have gone back for seconds, but when in Santa Barbara, eating is a serious pastime, and I wanted to sample as many of my other favorites as possible: a bowl of cioppino at Brophy Brothers, which sits wharf-side at Santa Barbara Harbor; a double cheeseburger "animal-style" at the local In-N-Out Burger; and whatever nightly special might strike my fancy at The Wine Cask, which excels in matching the best offerings of local vineyards with its classic-contemporary cuisine.

Plus, I had to save room for grazing at the farmers' market. One of the delights of visiting the Santa Barbara area is that small farms from the surrounding countryside grow some of the most spectacular fruits, vegetables and flowers that you'll find anywhere. And the farmers' market in Santa Barbara is not just a weekly occurrence, but takes place daily, rotating from downtown on Tuesdays and Saturdays, to the nearby communities of Goleta and Carpinteria on the other days. You want tomatoes? A grower here is likely to have 10 different kinds of heirloom varieties and can discuss each of their attributes with passion.

With such good food and drink so easily at hand, it's a good thing Santa Barbara offers some serious recreation for working it off. With the Channel Islands buffering the ocean swells, the surf in Santa Barbara proper doesn't get as big as it does elsewhere along the Central-Southern California coast. That makes it an ideal place to learn to surf, at places like Butterfly Beach, south of town, or College Point, near the campus of the University of California Santa Barbara a few miles north of downtown. Serious surfers need only head down the coast a dozen miles to Rincon (Kevin Costner has a house on the beach here), one of California's legendary breaks. The fairly flat water also lures plenty of ocean kayakers. And scuba divers are drawn to the clear, albeit chilly, waters of Santa Barbara Sound and numerous dive sites in the amazing kelp sea forests around Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz islands.

Another prime activity is whale watching. Between November and May, the Santa Barbara Channel is home to the world's largest population of migratory blue and humpback whales. While there are several boats that offer excursions, you often don't need to leave the shore to spot the giant marine mammals. One April afternoon, my wife and I were walking the beach near Shoreline Park when we saw a female blue whale and her newborn calf not 50 yards offshore. They were heading north, back to their summer feeding grounds in Alaska, and staying in close to shore to avoid the predators in deeper waters.

For me, the main outdoor draw is hiking on the numerous trails that wind through the hills above Santa Barbara. Just a 10-minute drive from the mansions of Montecito and you can be trekking on trails where bright orange and yellow nasturtiums grow wild on the hillsides and the air is ripe with the aroma of eucalyptus. My favorite hike, on the Cold Springs Trail, follows an old stage coach road along a rocky creek bed where, during the wetter winter months, there's a series of waterfalls and, if you're hardy, a chance to go for a trailside dip. But if you're looking for a real thrill, try the hike to the summit of Cathedral Peak. It's just 3,333 feet, but it's a gnarly, boulder-hopping experience. When you reach the very top, there's a crevice in the rock in which are stuck several glass jars with paper and pencil so you can jot down any inspirational messages you'd like to share with other hikers. Lots of them are typically California touchy-feely, hippie-dippy, but fun to read anyway.

There are several top-drawer accommodations in the area around Santa Barbara-the Four Seasons Biltmore, Bacara Resort and Spa and San Ysidro Ranch, where John and Jackie Kennedy spent their honeymoon and Sir Laurence Olivier exchanged wedding vows with Vivien Leigh. I prefer El Encanto Hotel and Garden Villas, which is perched on seven acres of lovingly tended hillside just up the road from the Santa Barbara Mission and offers guests a wonderful view of the city and harbor. Originally intended to house students and faculty from the adjacent State Normal School, it was converted to a hotel in 1918 and has been welcoming a procession of famous guests ever since, including Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, who used it as a hideaway.

The guest rooms are located in clusters of cottages and villages that reflect the early Santa Barbara architecture of California Craftsman and Spanish Colonial Revival. Now a part of the Orient-Express hotel group, the El Encanto is undergoing a $20 million renovation that will play out over the next year. Easily the most romantic spot on the premises is the hotel restaurant's garden terrace. With its outdoor heaters (necessary during Santa Barbara's often-chilly summer evenings) and excellent menu, it's a perfect spot for enjoying a glass of the local vino during a glowing sunset and asking oneself: "Why did I ever leave here?"

IF YOU GO ...

Santa Barbara, Calif.

. Where to eat: Graze at the farmers' market (there's one somewhere in the Santa Barbara area every day) or try the Mexican street food of La Super-Rica Taqueria (622 N. Milpas St., [805] 963-4940).

. Where to stay: El Encanto Hotel ([800] 393-5315, www.elencantohotel.com), a cluster of lovely cottages and villages perched on the hillside with a view of the city and bay.

. Where to play: Take a hike on one of the many trails (www.santabarbarahikes.com) that wind above Santa Barbara in the Santa Ynez Mountains. End with a whale-watching cruise aboard Condor Cruises ([888] 779-4253, www.condorcruises.com).